Adobe Photoshop
“Adobe Photoshop” is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems.
Adobe's
2003 Creative Suite
rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus,
Adobe Photoshop CS6 is the 13th
major release of Adobe
Photoshop. The CS rebranding also resulted in Adobe offering numerous software
packages containing multiple Adobe programs for a reduced price. Adobe
Photoshop is released in two editions, Adobe
Photoshop, and Adobe Photoshop
Extended, with the Extended having extra 3D image creation, motion
graphics editing, and advanced image analysis features. Adobe Photoshop Extended is included in all of Adobe's
Creative Suite offerings except Design Standard, which includes the Adobe
Photoshop edition. However, in 2013, Adobe announced a new brand - Creative Cloud. And the Photoshop version included in this suite is
named Photoshop CC. The CC
version, and will be continuously maintained and upgraded has 3D content as
Photoshop Extended, which means the standard version is canceled.
Alongside
Photoshop and Photoshop Extended, Adobe also publishes Photoshop Elements
and Photoshop Light room, collectively called The Adobe Photoshop Family. In 2008, Adobe released Adobe Photoshop Express, a free web-based image
editing tool to edit photos directly on blogs and social networking sites. In a
version was released for the Android operating system and the iOS operating system, followed by a release of a version
for Windows 8 in. Adobe distributes Photoshop in Windows
and Macintosh versions.
A popular high-end image editor for the Macintosh
and Windows from Adobe. The original Mac versions were the first to bring
affordable image editing down to the personal computer level in the late 1980s.
Since then, Photoshop has become the de fact standard in image editing.
Although it contains a large variety of image editing features, one of
Photoshop's most powerful capabilities is layers, which allows images to be
rearranged under and over each other for placement. Photoshop is designed to
read from and convert to a raft of graphics formats, but uses its own native
format for layers.
What is Photoshop
A leading paint program from Adobe Systems, Inc. For
many years, Photoshop has been the model against which other paint programs are
compared. Initially, it ran only on Macintosh systems, which was a strong
selling point for Macs, especially among graphic artists. Today, Photoshop runs
on both Macs and Windows PCs.
Photoshop Definition
An image editing software developed and manufactured
by Adobe Systems Inc. Photoshop is considered one of the leaders in photo
editing software. The software allows users to manipulate, crop, resize, and
correct color on digital photos. The software is particularly popular amongst
professional photographers and graphic designers.
What is Photoshop
A leading paint program from Adobe Systems, Inc.
For many years, Photoshop has been the model against which other paint programs
are compared. Initially, it ran only on Macintosh systems, which was a strong selling
point for Macs, especially among graphic artists. Today, Photoshop runs on both
Macs and Windows PCs.
The internet was originally created by U.S. Department of Defense researchers to exchange textual documents. Once someone discovered how to add graphics to the exchanged document, however, the internet really began to take off.
As Hyper Studio author Roger Wagner has observed, we live in a media centric society that increasingly relies upon multimedia in its varied forms to both inform and entertain us. It is natural for people living within this media-saturated culture to want to create some of that media and Adobe Photoshop is the perfect tool for that task.
With Photoshop, you can
Create original artwork
Design graphics for a webpage or website
Make "ghosted" images that can
be used as the background for Webpages
Correct flaws and imperfections in a
photograph
Create a photo collage: a composition
made up of several different photos
Create a deceptively realistic photo
that is not real
Alter photographs for political propaganda
purposes
Design smashing layouts for a classroom
newspaper, brochure, or flyer
Have a ton of fun being creative
Photoshop
is a program that is so rich, complex, and powerful, people literally spend
most of the waking hours of their life using it, and are still always learning
new tricks and techniques! Thankfully, however, the learning curve for
Photoshop is not steep, and users can create very appealing products with a
short introduction to the concepts and tools of Photoshop. That is one of the
primary goals of this workshop
help spark your own creativity, I have
provided documentation of how I created the images used in this online
curriculum in the last section, Graphics Techniques. Every image in this curriculum that is
not a screen shop is click able to the
provided documentation.
Here
are a few quotations on creativity to reflect on source1 and source2,
Discovery
consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has
thought.
- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
There is an
incessant influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate incredible
dullness.
- Henry David Thoreau, Walden
When you do
the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of
the world.
- George Washington Carver
File Format
Photoshop
files have default file extension as .PSD, which stands for Photoshop Document. A PSD file stores an
image with support for most imaging options available in Photoshop. These
include layers with masks, transparency, text, alpha channels and spot
colors, clipping paths, and duotone settings. This is in contrast to many
other file formats that restrict content to provide streamlined, predictable
functionality. A PSD file has a maximum height and width of 30,000 pixels, and
a length limit of 3 Gigabytes.
Photoshop
files sometimes have the file extension .PSB, which stands for Photoshop Big also known as large document format. A PSB file
extends the PSD file format, increasing the maximum height and width to 300,000
pixels and the length limit to around 4 Exabytes. The
dimension limit was apparently chosen arbitrarily by Adobe, not based on
computer arithmetic constraints but for ease of software testing. PSD and PSB
formats are documented.
Because
of Photoshop popularity, PSD files are widely used and supported to some extent
by most competing software. The .PSD file format can be exported to and from
Adobe's other apps like Adobe
Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, and After Effects,
to make professional standard DVDs and provide non-linear editing
and special effects services, such as backgrounds, textures, and so on, for
television, film, and the web. Photoshop's primary strength is as a pixel-based image editor, unlike vector-based
image editors. Photoshop also enables vector graphics editing through its Paths, Pen tools, Shape tools, Shape Layers, Type tools, Import command, and
Smart Object functions. These tools and commands are convenient to combine
pixel based and vector-based images in one Photoshop document, because it may
not be necessary to use more than one program. To create very complex vector
graphics with numerous shapes and colors, it may be easier to use software that
was created primarily for that purpose, such as Adobe Illustrator
or CorelDRAW. Photoshop's non-destructive Smart Objects
can also import complex vector shapes.
Language Availabilities
Chinese
Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German,
Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian,
Spanish, Swedish, Romanian, Turkish and Ukrainian. Arabic and Hebrew are added
as of Photoshop CS6.
Definition
An
image editing software developed and manufactured by adobe systems Inc.
Photoshop is considered one of the leaders in photo editing software. The
software allows users to manipulate, crop, resize, and correct color on digital
photos. The software is particularly popular amongst professional photographers
and graphic designers.
Tools
Upon loading Photoshop, a sidebar with a variety of
tools with multiple image-editing functions appears to the left of the screen.
These tools typically fall under the categories of drawing painting, measuring and navigation, selection,
typing, and retouching. Some tools contain a
small triangle in the bottom right of the toolbox icon. These can be expanded
to reveal similar tools. While newer versions of Photoshop are updated to
include new tools and features, several recurring tools that exist in most
versions are discussed below.
Pen Tool
Photoshop includes a few versions of the pen
tool. The pen tool creates precise paths that can be manipulated using anchor
points. The free form pen tool allows the user to draw paths
freehand, and with the magnetic pen tool, the drawn path attaches
closely to outlines of objects in an image, which is useful for isolating them
from a background.
Measuring
and navigation
The
eyedropper
tool selects a color from an area of the image
that is clicked, and samples it for future use. The hand tool navigates
an image by moving it in any direction, and the zoom tool enlarges
the part of an image that is clicked on, allowing for a closer view.
Selection
By
using path selection tool, we can select path nodes.
Cropping
The
crop tool can be used to select a particular area of an image and
discard the portions outside of the chosen section. This tool assists in
creating a focus point on an image and excluding unnecessary or excess space.
Cropping allows enhancement of a photo’s composition while decreasing the file
size. The crop tool is in the tools
palette, which is located on the right side of the document. By placing the
cursor over the image, the user can drag the cursor to the desired area. Once
the Enter key is pressed, the area outside of the rectangle will be cropped.
The area outside of the rectangle is the discarded data, which allows for the
file size to be decreased. The crop
tool can alternatively be used to extend the canvas size by clicking and
dragging outside of the existing image borders.
Slicing
The
slice
and slice select tools, like the crop tool,
are used in isolating parts of images. The slice tool can be used to divide an
image into different sections, and these separate parts can be used as pieces
of a web page design once HTML and CSS are applied. The slice select tool
allows sliced sections of an image to be adjusted and shifted.
Moving
Once
an area of an image is highlighted, the move tool can be used to
manually relocate the selected piece to anywhere on the canvas.
Marquee
The
marquee tool can make selections that are single row, single column,
rectangular and elliptical. An area that has been selected can be edited
without affecting the rest of the image. This tool can also crop an image; it
allows for better control. In contrast to the crop tool, the marquee tool allows for more adjustments
to the selected area before cropping. The only marquee tool that does
not allow cropping is the elliptical. Although the single row and column marquee
tools allow for cropping, they are not ideal, because they only crop a line.
The rectangular marquee tool is the preferred option. Once the tool has
been selected, dragging the tool across the desired area will select it. The
selected area will be outlined by dotted lines, referred to as marching ants. These dotted lines are
called marching ants, because the
dashes look like ants marching around the selected area. To set a specific size
or ratio, the tool option bar provides these settings. Before making a
selecting an area, the desired size or ratio must be set by adjusting the width
and height. Any changes such as color, filters, location, should be made before
cropping. To crop the selection, the user must go to image tab and select crop.
Lasso
The lasso
tool is similar to the marquee tool,
however, the user can make a custom selection by drawing it freehand. There are
three options for the lasso tool regular,
polygonal, and magnetic. The regular lasso
tool allows the user to have drawing capabilities. Photoshop will complete the
selection once the mouse button is released. The user may also complete the
selection by connecting the end point to the starting point. The marching ants will indicate if a
selection has been made. The polygonal
lasso tool will only draw straight lines, which makes it an ideal choice
for images with many straight lines. Unlike the regular lasso tool, the user must continually click around the image to
outline the shape. To complete the selection, the user must connect the end
point to the starting point just like the regular lasso tool. Magnetic lasso tool is considered the
smart tool. It can do the same as the other two, but it can also detect the
edges of an image once the user selects a starting point. It detects by
examining the color pixels as the cursor move over the desired area. A pixel is
the smallest element in an image. Closing the selection is the same as the
other two, which should also should display the marching ants once the selection has been closed.
Quick Selection
The quick selection tool selects areas based on edges, similarly to the magnetic lasso tool. The difference between this tool and the lasso tool is that there is no starting and ending point. Since there isn’t a starting and ending point, the selected area can be added onto as much as possible without starting over. By dragging the cursor over the desired area, the quick selection tool detects the edges of the image. The marching ants allow the user to know what is currently being selected. Once the user is done, the selected area can be edited without affecting the rest of the image.Magic Wand
The magic
wand tool selects areas based on pixels. The user only needs to click once,
and this tool will detect pixels that are very similar to each other. If the eyedropper
tool is selected in the options bar, then the magic wand can determine the
value needed to evaluate the pixels; this is based on the sample size setting
in the eyedropper tool. When the image requires more than a few clicks,
this tool becomes a disadvantage. The user must decide what settings to use or
if the image is right for this tool.
Eraser
The eraser
tool erases content based on the active layer. If the user is on the text
layer, then any text across which the tool is dragged will be erased. The
eraser will convert the pixels to transparent, unless the background layer is
selected. The size and style of the eraser can be selected in the options bar.
This tool is unique in that it can take the form of the paintbrush and pencil
tools. In addition to the straight eraser tool, there are two more available
options background eraser and magic eraser. The background eraser
deletes any part of the image that is on the edge of an object. This tool is
often used to extract objects from the background. The magic eraser tool
deletes based on similar colored pixels. It is very similar to the magic
wand tool. This tool is ideal for deleting areas with the same color or
tone that contrasts with the rest of the image.
Retouching
There
are several tools that are used for retouching, manipulating and adjusting
photos, such as the clone stamp, eraser, burn, dodge,
and smudge and blur
tools. The clone stamp tool samples a selected portion of an image, and
duplicates it over another area using a brush that can be adjusted in size,
flow and opacity. The smudge tool, when dragged across part of an image,
stretches and smudges pixels as if they are real paint, and the blur tool
softens portions of an image by lowering the amount of detail within the
adjusted area. The eraser tool removes pixels from an image, and the magic
eraser tool selects areas of solid color and erases them. The burn and dodge tools, which are derived
from traditional methods of adjusting the exposure on printed photos, have
opposite effects, the burn tool darkens selected areas, and the dodge tool
lightens them.
Video Editing
In Adobe CS5 Extended edition, video editing is comprehensive and efficient with a broad compatibility of video file formats such as MOV, AVI, MPEG-4, and FLV formats and easy workflow. Using simple combination of keys video layers can easily be modified, with other features such as adding text and the creation of animations using single images.3D Extrusion
With
the Extended version of Photoshop CS5, 2D elements of an artwork can easily
become three-dimensional with the click of a button. Extrusions of texts, an
available library of materials for three-dimensional and even wrapping
two-dimensional images around 3D geometry.
3D Printing Tools
Requiring
Photoshop version 14.1, users can now create and edit designs for 3D printing.
After downloading 3D photo models from numerous online services, users can add
color, adjust the shape or rotate the angles. Artists can also design 3D models
from scratch.
Graphic design
Photoshop
has been a useful tool for graphic designers to create artwork conveniently and
aesthetically. For example, design studios can use Photoshop in order to
visualize their take on an initial concept and then move onto different media
to complete the concept.
Photoshop
disasters
For comedic effect, some websites publish so-called Photoshop
disasters, that is, pictures that contain obvious Photoshop mistakes. Those
mistakes range from missing limbs to overdone photo retouching on fashion models.
Photoshop contest
A Photoshop contest or Photoshop contest is an online game in which
someone posts an image, and other
people manipulate the image using a raster graphics editor such as
Photoshop.
Adobe Photoshop CS
The first Photoshop CS was commercially released in
October 2003.
Photoshop
CS increased user control with a reworked file browser augmenting search
versatility, sorting and sharing capabilities and the Histogram Palette which
monitors changes in the image as they are made to the document. Match Color was
also introduced in CS, which reads color data to achieve a uniform expression
throughout a series of pictures.
Adobe Photoshop CS2
Photoshop CS2, released in May 2005, expanded on its predecessor with a new set of tools and features. It included an upgraded Spot Healing Brush, which is mainly used for handling common photographic problems such as blemishes, red-eye, noise, and blurring and lens distortion. One of the most significant inclusions in CS2 was the implementation of Smart Objects, which allows users to scale and transform images and vector illustrations without losing image quality, as well as create linked duplicates of embedded graphics so that a single edit updates across multiple iterations.
Adobe responded to feedback from the professional
media industry by implementing non-destructive editing as well as the producing
and modifying of 32-Bit High Dynamic Range images, which are optimal for 3D
rendering and advanced compositing. FireWire Previews could also be viewed on a
monitor via a direct export feature.
Photoshop CS2 brought the Vanishing Point and Image
Warping tools.
Vanishing
Point makes tedious graphic and photo retouching endeavors much simpler by
letting users clone, paint and transform image objects while maintaining visual
perspective.
Image
Warping makes it easy to digitally distort an image into a shape by choosing
on-demand presets or by dragging control points.
The File Browser was upgraded to Adobe Bridge, which
functioned as a hub for productivity, imagery and creativity, providing
multi-view file browsing and smooth cross-product integration across Adobe
Creative Suite 2 software. Adobe Bridge also provided access to Adobe Stock Photos, a new stock
photography service that offered users one-stop shopping across five elite
stock image providers to deliver high-quality, royalty-free images for layout
and design.
Camera Raw version 3.0 was a new addition in CS2,
and it allowed settings for multiple raw files to be modified simultaneously. In addition,
processing multiple raw files to other formats including JPEG, TIFF, DNG or
PSD, could be done in the background without executing Photoshop itself.
Photoshop CS2 brought a streamlined interface,
making it easier to access features for specific instances. In CS2 users were
also given the ability to create their own custom presets, which was meant to
save time and increase productivity.
Adobe Photoshop CS3
Smart Objects display filters without altering the
original image CS3 improves on features from previous versions of Photoshop and
introduces new tools. One of the most significant is the streamline interface
which allows increased performance, speed, and efficiency. There is also
improved support for Camera RAW files which allow users to process images with
higher speed and conversion quality. CS3 supports over 150 RAW formats as well
as JPEG, TIFF and PDF. Enhancements were made to the Black and White Conversion,
Brightness and Contrast Adjustment and Vanishing Point Module tools. The Black
and White adjustment option improves control over manual grayscale conversions
with a dialog box similar to that of Channel Mixer. There is more control over
print options and better management with Adobe Bridge. The Clone Source palette
is introduced, adding more options to the clone stamp tool. Other
features include the nondestructive Smart Filters, optimizing graphics for
mobile devices, Fill Light and Dust Busting tools. Compositing is
assisted with Photoshop new Quick Selection and Refine Edge tools and improved
image stitching technology.
CS3 Extended includes everything in CS3 and
additional features. There are tools for 3D graphic file formats, video
enhancement and animation, and comprehensive image measurement and analysis
tools with DICOM file support. The 3D graphic
formats allow 3D content to be incorporated into 2D compositions. As for video
editing, CS3 supports layers and video formatting so users can edit video files
per frame.
CS3 and CS3 Extended were released in April 2007 to
the United States and Canada. They were also made available through Adobe’s
online store and Adobe Authorized Resellers. Both CS3 and CS3 Extended
are offered as either a stand-alone application or feature of Adobe Creative
Suite. The price for CS3 is US$649 and the extended version is US$999. Both
products are compatible with Intel-based Macs and PowerPCs, supporting Windows XP and Windows Vista. CS3 is the first
release of Photoshop that will run natively on Macs with Intel processors:
previous versions can only run through the translation layer Rosetta, and will not
run at all on Macs running OS X 10.7 or later.
Adobe Photoshop CS4
CS4 features smoother panning and zooming, allowing
faster image editing at a high magnification. The interface is more simplified
with its tab-based interface making it cleaner to work with. Photoshop CS4
features a new 3D engine allowing the conversion of gradient maps to 3D
objects, adding depth to layers and text, and getting print-quality output with
the new ray-tracing rendering engine. It supports common 3D formats; the new
Adjustment and Mask Panels, Content-aware scaling seam carving, Fluid Canvas Rotation and
File display options. The Content-aware scaling allows users to
intelligently size and scale images, and the Canvas Rotation tool makes it
easier to rotate and edit images from any angle.
Adobe released Photoshop CS4 Extended, which has the
features of Adobe Photoshop CS4, plus capabilities for scientific imaging, 3D,
motion graphics, accurate image analysis and high-end film and video
users. The faster 3D engine allows users to paint directly on 3D models, wrap
2D images around 3D shapes and animate 3D objects. As the successor to
Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS4 is the first x64 edition of Photoshop on
consumer computers for Windows. The color correction tool
has also been improved significantly.
CS4 and CS4 Extended were released on 15 October
2008.
They
were also made available through Adobe’s online store and Adobe Authorized
Resellers.
Both
CS4 and CS4 Extended are offered as either a stand-alone application or feature
of Adobe Creative Suite. The price for CS4 is US$699 and the extended version
is US$999.
Both
products are compatible with Intel-based Mac OS X and PowerPCs, supporting Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Adobe Photoshop CS5
A 2D landscape designed in Adobe Photoshop CS5
Extended.
Photoshop CS5 was launched on 12 April 2010. In a
video posted on its official Facebook page, the development team revealed the new
technologies under development, including three-dimensional brushes and warping
tools.
Adobe Creative Suite was released, with new versions
of some of the applications. Its version of Photoshop, 12.1, is identical to
the concurrently released update for Photoshop CS5, version 12.0.4, except for
support for the new subscription pricing that was introduced with CS5.5.
CS5 introduces new tools such as the Content-Aware
Fill, Refine Edge, Mixer Brush, Bristle Tips and Puppet Warp. The community
also had a hand in the additions made to CS5 as 30 new features and
improvements were included by request. These include automatic image
straightening, the Rule-of-Thirds cropping tool, color pickup and saving an
16-bit image as a JPEG. Another feature
includes the Adobe Mini Bridge which allows for efficient file browsing and
management.
CS5 Extended includes everything in CS5 plus
features in 3D and video editing. A new materials library was added, providing
more options such as Chrome, Glass, and Cork. The new Shadow Catcher tool can
be used to further enhance 3D objects. For motion graphics, the
tools can be applied to over more than one frame in a video sequence.
CS5 and CS5 Extended were made available through
Adobe's online store, Adobe Authorized Resellers and Adobe direct sales. Both CS5 and CS5
Extended are offered as either a stand-alone application or feature of Adobe
Creative Suite 5. The price for CS5 is US$699 and the extended version is
US$999. Both products are compatible with Intel-based Mac OS and Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.
Adobe Photoshop CS6
Photoshop CS6, released in May 2012, added new
creative design tools and provided a redesigned interface with a focus on
enhanced performance. New features have been added to the Content-Aware tool
such as the Content-Aware Patch and Content-Aware Move.
Adobe Photoshop CS6 brought a suite of tools for
video editing. Color and exposure adjustments, as well as layers, are among a
few things that are featured in this new editor. Upon completion of editing,
the user is presented with a handful of options of exporting into a few popular
formats.
CS6 brings the straighten
tool to Photoshop, where a user simply draws a line anywhere on an image, and
the canvas will reorient itself so that the line drawn becomes horizontal, and
adjusts the media accordingly. This was created with the intention that users
will draw a line parallel to a plane in the image, and reorient the image to
that plane to more easily achieve certain perspectives.
CS6 allows background saving, which means that while
another document is compiling and archiving itself, it is possible to
simultaneously edit an image. CS6 also features a
customizable auto-save feature, preventing any work from being lost.
Photoshop CS6 was released on May 7, 2012.The price
for CS6 is US$699 and the extended version is US$999. Students, however, even
those who are homeschooled, can receive a significant discount on Photoshop.
With the
newest Photoshop version 13.1.2, Adobe has dropped support for Windows XP even on native
x64 for Windows
XP x64,
thus, the last version that works on Windows XP is 13.0.1. Adobe also announced
that it will quit selling perpetual licenses to new creative suite packages,
but will continue to support Photoshop CS6 for OS compatibility and will
provide bug fixes and security updates as necessary.Adobe Photoshop CC
Photoshop CC (14.0) was launched on June 18, 2013.
As the next major version after CS6, it is only available as part of a Creative
Cloud subscription. Major features in this version include All-new Smart
Sharpen, Intelligent Up sampling, and Camera Shake Reduction for reducing blur
caused by camera shake. Editable Rounded Rectangles and an update to Adobe
Camera Raw (8.0) were also included.
Since the initial launch, Adobe has released two
additional feature-bearing updates. The first, version 14.1, was launched on
September 9, 2013. The major features in this version were Adobe Generator, a
Node.js-based platform for creating plug-ins for Photoshop. Photoshop 14.1
shipped with two plug-ins, one to automatically generate image assets based on
an extension in the layer name, and another to automatically generate assets
for Adobe Edge Reflow.
The latest version (14.2) was released on January
15th, 2014. Major features include Perspective Warp, Linked Smart Objects, and
3D Printing support.
Photoshop uses the generic term brush to represent any of the drawing tools. Thus, the paint brush tool will have a brush and
the pencil tool will also have a
brush. This is a little confusing at first but you will quickly get the hang of
the terminology. Actually, it helps to think of a brush as the drawing edge of whatever drawing tool
you are using. Thus, drawing from Photoshop's art studio metaphor, a paint
brush's brush would be the bristles of the paint brush while a pencil tool's
brush would be the pencil's tip.
The importance of defining the brush is that once defined, brushes can be customized. For example,
you can change the shape or size of your brush. Think of a dull pencil point
versus a sharp pencil point and imagine the different types of lines the
pencils would draw. Similarly, think of the shape of a calligraphy pen versus
the tip of a magic marker or even a highlighting pen. Though the default brush
is plenty powerful, it is useful to get the hang of working with custom brushes
because each type of brush will be better or worse in various situations
Brush Shape
The
most common customization you will perform is to modify the size of the brush.
To do so, you use the Brushes tab in
the Options palette and choose a
larger or smaller brush by selecting from the range given.
Except
for the Pencil tool, brush shapes are always anti-aliased. Thus, you can choose
both a hard edge and a soft edge by choosing either the solid or blended edge
circles.
Customizing Your Brush
Of
course, Photoshop allows you to create your own brush if you need something not
offered by the set of default brushes. If you access the Brushes menu from the
Options palette flyaway menu, you will see the various operations available to
you. Notice in particular the Brush Options and the new Brush menu choices. Click on either
one of these and you can customize your own brush.
As you can see, there are several factors that
define a brush besides size and hardness. You will also be asked to define the
spacing, angle and roundness of the brush.
The spacing controls how frequently a tool affects
an image as you drag. Turn up the spacing and you get splotchy lines if you
drag your mouse quickly over the canvas. A low spacing will track your mouse
more exactly
When you draw something on the canvas, Photoshop modifies
the existing pixels in the background according to the logic of painting. Thus
if you paint a streak of red over a streak of blue, the pixels in the streak of
blue will be changed to pixels of purple.
Thus, you can think of painting in Photoshop as involving
three values: the base value, the blend value, and the result value. Brush
modes modify the way this blending works. Specifically, modes specify the way
in which the blend and base values will interact to create a result value.
Let's look at each of the modes...
The Normal mode applies the full blend
value. In the case of a painting tool, the blend color will completely coat the
base color. in the case of an edit tool, the edit value will completely
override the existing color.
The Threshold mode is specific for
Bitmapped and Indexed Color images. Essentially, it assures that the color
value of the tool is applied according to the closest available color in the
color map.
The Dissolve mode, which is only
available for painting tools. randomly scatters the blend color to give a rough
textured non anti-aliased brush stroke.
The Behind and Clear modes are
available in layered images. Essentially, they modify whether the blend color
is applied to the foreground or background layer. When the behind mode is
selected for example, a color will be applied behind the layer showing through
only int he blank or transparent areas.
The Multiply mode multiplies the
brightness of the base color and the blend to create a darker tone. The
opposite effect can be achieved by using Screen
Overlay works like screen and multiply
depending on the value of the base color. Specifically, the hues of the base
color will move towards the blend color. Soft light works like
overlay with less intensity while Hard light is more
intense.
Darken darkens the base color using the
blend color as a basis and Lighten lightens the base color by
using the lightest value of the blend color. Difference compares
the brightness values of the base and blend colors and creates a result value
by subtracting the smaller from larger values.
Hue replaces the hue of the base with
the hue of the blend. Saturation does the same for
saturation and Color does the same for both hue and saturation. Luminosity
works the same way for the lightness value.
Photoshop Layers
The image above is built in 23
layers plus a background layer, enabling the individual elements to be moved
independently of the others. The layer window below shows the layers. The arrow
is pointing to the view option the eye
in the chip shadow layer. Clicking the eye toggles between making the layer
invisible and bringing it back into view.
Obtain the Software
Photoshop is expensive software if you purchase it
commercially, but educators can receive a sizable discount. Suggested retail
price in spring 2001 for the full version of Photoshop was $609, upgrade price
was $199. Educators could buy the full version for $279.99, or upgrade for
$199. Details
about the $99 Photoshop Elements are available below. Order at a local
educational software reseller or by calling 1-888-724-4508 Updated information
about the latest release of Photoshop is available on Adobe's website. You can
download a tryout version of
Photoshop from the Adobe website as well, but a fast internet connection is
recommended as the file size is very large.
A less expensive version of Photoshop
is available, called Photoshop Elements.
Unlike the previously released Photoshop LE and Photo Deluxe which were both
rather sparse in features compared to Photoshop, Elements is a robust program
that can meet the needs of most computer users. Because it does not support
CMYK color separations, commercial prints shops will have to use the full
version of Photoshop, but 'the rest of us' could get by quite easily with
Elements for just $99. Read more and download a demo on,
Explanation of Photoshop
One of the most commonly
used features of Adobe Photoshop is Layer Blending Modes. This allows you to
blend layers, or groups, together to create interesting effects.
o Although there
are 29 blending modes available we will be focusing on 8 of these modes.
o Having a
knowledge of the varying blending modes will enable you to create better images
and allow you to add more effects.
o The following 3
photographs will be used in the examples throughout so you can always make
reference to the base images.
o Each photograph
has varying characteristics so each blend mode will have a slightly different
impact on each photograph.
The tools available on the Photoshop
toolbar and menus are the basis for working in the software. Learning tools
such as the crop, clone stamp and marquee, and the use of tool presets, will
help facilitate design and improve workflow.
Photoshop
it's so powerful that it's actually become a verb! It's one of the best known
software applications on the planet, and has a reputation for being hard to
learn but were going to dispel that. Photoshop has been around for over 20
years, and while it's certainly become far more powerful, the interface remains
clean, logical, and easy to learn. Using Photoshop CS6, we'll show you the
basics, and how to keep moving forward.
Launch Photoshop
If you don't currently own Photoshop,
you can download a free trial version at Adobe Photoshop. On the right side of
the page, click on the Try It
button. You can get a 30-day, fully-functioning trial to see if Photoshop is
right for you.
Open
a document
Command-click here to open a sample picture in a new
tab. You can use to follow along with this tutorial. Drag the photo to the
desktop, and then open up that image in Photoshop. When you're done, your
screen should look something like this,
Basic Tools
Select the Marquee Tool
Select the Lasso Tool
Select the
Quick Selection tool
Selected the Crop Tool
Select the Text Tool
Select the Text Tool
Select the Marquee tool
You can do this by clicking on the icon,
or by typing the letter for the remainder of this tutorial, the key shortcut
will be shown after the tool name. The Marquee tool is the most basic of all
tools. It's something you're already familiar with: virtually every application
and operating system selects things the same way: click and drag to select a
region of the screen. Photoshop is no different.
Clicking
and holding on the Marquee icon will give you a small popup menu where you can
select the variations, Rectangular marquee the difficult, Elliptical marquee,
for selecting circles and ovals, and a single-pixel marquee for both horizontal
and vertical.
For now, select the Rectangular
marquee, place your cursor somewhere in the upper left of the image, then click
and drag the mouse. You will see the selection expand, with the pixel values to
the right of the selection. Drag towards the center, until the values are
roughly, and then release the mouse button.
Click and hold in the middle of the
selection, and move the cursor notice how the selection moves with you. Drag
the selection so that it surrounds the tan house on the hill, as shown,
Select the Lasso Tool
Closely related to the Marquee tool
is the Lasso tool. Like the Marquee tool, the Lasso is used to make a
selection. However, with the Lasso tool, you can make freeform selections. Its
variants include the Polygonal Lasso tool, and the Magnetic Lasso tool. Select
the basic Lasso tool, and try it out.
Click and hold
the mouse button then draw a selection around the small white sail boat that's
left of center in the window. When you get to the bottom, release the mouse button
the selection will auto-complete. Now press Command-D. This will deactivate the
selection. Note that this works for all
selections.
Press Shift-L.
This will change the cursor to the Polygonal
Lasso Tool. Shift plus the tool shortcut will cycle through the other
related tools. Notice the black arrow on the top left of the Polygonal Lasso
cursor: that's where the click point is.
Click once,
anywhere on the image. Notice as you move your mouse, the starting point
remains pinned, and a dashed line extends towards the cursor. Click again, and
that next point becomes pinned. You can continue clicking until your selection
is complete, as simple as a triangle, or as complex as you like. When you reach
your last click point, double click instead of single click, and the polygon
will automatically close.
Press the Escape key at any time to cancel the selection in progress.
Press Shift-L again. This selects
the Magnetic Lasso. Like
the lasso tools, the click point is the black pointer in the upper left of the
cursor.
Try this click and hold the mouse button with the cursor pointing at the
water line of the bow of the boat, and drag around the boat slowly. Notice as
you drag, the selection actually snaps to the boat as you move,
At the top of the Photoshop window, you
will see some tool modifiers: Feather, Anti-alias, Width, Contrast, and
Frequency. As you advance, try each of these and see what effect they have on
your selections. Hover over any interface element to see tool tips for that
particular tool or setting.
Select the Quick
Selection tool
This is the advanced version of the
Magic Wand tool which is still available as an alternate tool.
Try this click
and hold on the tan house in the middle of the picture. While holding the
mouse, drag to the left or the right, scrubbing
the house with the cursor. Notice how the selection grows as you do this. Make
sure you select the roof, balcony, and all the rest of the house is selected.
When done, you may notice that some of the shrubbery is selected, too,
There are two
ways to eliminate the shrubbery with the Quick Selection tool. The first is to
select the Subtract version of the tool.
The other way
to subtract from the selection is to simply press and hold the Option Alt key,
which temporarily switched the tool to the subtracting version you can see the
tool switch modifiers at the top of the screen as you do this.
Either way,
click and drag slightly on the offending shrubbery, and it will be deselected,
You can adjust
the sensitivity of the selection by adjusting the size. The larger the size,
the more will be selected. Try it out: click the standard Quick Selection tool,
set the size to 100, then try selecting the house again.
Select the Crop Tool
According
to Adobe, this is the most used tool in Photoshop. It's one of the tools that
absent anything else, can dramatically improve the composition of your
photographs. When you select the Crop tool, you will notice small handles on
the corners, and on the edges in the center of the image:
To crop an
image, either drags the handles to surround the part of the image you wish to
keep, or click and drag inside the image to draw the area to crop. However you
do it, the result will be the area you're keeping will be normal, and the area
to be cut will be dimmed. Make a selection similar to this, then press Enter:
Notice how that's changed the entire
focus of the picture. Before you do anything else, click Undo Command-Z, Mac,
or Control-Z, PC to restore the image to its original dimensions. If did make
further changes, you can step back through your editing history using
Command-Option-Z Control-Alt-Z.
Perspective crop. Rather than just a
plain rectangle crop, Perspective Crop lets you adjust the relative perspective
of the image as you crop. While an interesting and powerful tool, well worth
experimenting with, it's a more advanced feature that will be covered in more
advanced tutorials.
The Slice tools, also part of the Crop menu, are designed to carve up an
image for placement into web pages. Like the Perspective crop, this is an
advanced feature to be addressed in more suitable tutorials.
Select the Text Tool
They say a picture is worth a thousand
words, but sometimes a picture is not enough, you want words, too Photoshop
text tool gives you a few options.
With
the Text tool selected, click near the bottom left of the picture. You'll see a
blinking text insertion cursor. Type Boats
in the Bay. Depending on your settings, it might be too large, or too
small, or a hard to read color. The editor for the text attributes is at the
top of the Photoshop window:
Font family. This
menu, like all font menus, lets you select the desired font. You can select
from the list, or type in the font name. It will auto fill as you type. For the
purposes of this tutorial, select Helvetica.
Font style.
If there are related font styles for the font family Bold, Italic, Light, Medium, etc., they will be available in this
popup menu. If the menu is grayed, that means there are no variations on the
current font family. For our purposes, select Regular.
Font size. This adjusts the size of the font.
You have the option of entering in a specific font size, or choosing a size
from a small list. For fast, flexible, and easy font size changes, click and
hold on the T icon to the left of the field, and drag to the left or right: the
size should change dramatically.
Ant aliasing. This will determine the strength of
the edge blending. "None" turns off ant aliasing, and text is
rendered like it was rendered in 1984: like blocky stair steps. Here's a
comparison of the different ant aliasing settings,
Justification.
The icons say it all: this justifies all text in the selected layer to the
left, center, or right.
Color. This
color chip defaults to the foreground color when you first choose the Text
tool. To change the color, select the text layer itself, or with the Text
cursor, any part of the text in a field. Click on the chip, select a color, and
any selected text, plus all future text will be that new color. Note: If you
select a text field with multiple colors, the color chip will display a
question mark (?). All other text attributes will show as blanks.
Warp. This bends, or "warps"
the text on the horizontal or vertical axis. To use it, simply select the text
layer, click on the Warp button, and work the Style and sliders to find the
right look . For this, we'll use the Flag style, and set the bend to 100%.
Panels. The Panels
button opens up two more palettes: Character and Paragraph. Use these to
fine-tune the look of your text.
Create a sized text
field
To do this, click and drag from the
top left corner of where you want your text box to appear, to the bottom right
corner of the box. You'll see a rectangle on the screen, with handles on the
corners and sides.
Type some a couple sentences into the box. Don't worry if
the text is too big or too small. When you're done entering text, press the
Enter key. If your text is too small, use the Font Size control at the top to
make it larger. Conversely, if your text is too large, use the Font Size control
to make the text smaller.
You can also adjust the size of the text field, hover over
one of the handles for a couple seconds, and your cursor will change to a
double arrow. Click and drag to resize the text box: the text will flow within
the boundaries of the box.
Photoshop tool presets
Creating
tool presets in Photoshop is an excellent way to speed up your workflow and
remember your favorite and most-used settings. A tool preset is a named, saved
version of a tool and specific related settings such as width, opacity and
brush size, all handled through the tool presets palette.
Marquee Tool
The
Photoshop marquee tool, a relatively simple feature, is essential for several
tasks. At the most basic level, the tool is used to select areas of an image,
which can then be copied, cut or cropped. There are four options within the
tool to select different types of areas: rectangular, elliptical, a single row
or a single column.
Crop Tool
The
Photoshop crop tool serves two main purposes. The first is to crop, which means
to cut out an area of an image by selecting the area that you wish to keep. It
is also handy for quickly resizing images. These functions can also be used at
the same time to crop and resize a photo or any type of image at once.
Clone Stamp Tool
Learn to use the clone stamp tool in
Photoshop to retouch photos by copying one area of an image onto another area.
Photoshop Save for Web Tool
As
a graphic designer, you may often be asked to deliver web-ready images, such as
photos for a web site or banner ads. The Photoshop “Save for Web” tool is a
simple and easy way to prepare your JPEG files for the web, helping with the
trade-off between file size and image quality.
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